Problem: Ashley bought a new watch at the store when they were having a $55\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the watch was $$79$, how much did Ashley pay with the discount?
Explanation: First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$79$ $\times$ $55\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $55\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{55}{100}$ which is also equal to $55 \div 100$ $55 \div 100 = 0.55$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.55$ $\times$ $$79$ $ = $ $$43.45$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price Ashley paid. $$79$ $-$ $$43.45$ $ = $ $$35.55$ Ashley paid $$35.55$ for the watch.